The surprise announcement that Portland’s well-respected acting city manager will leave her post next month has some city councilors saying the city should change the structure of its government for a second time in five years.
City Councilor Edward Suslovic said having a popularly elected mayor with no executive authority – a change approved by voters in 2010 – has created an administrative nightmare for professional staff, who are often forced to reconcile differing opinions of the mayor and city councilors.
The elected full-time mayor, who earns a salary of roughly $67,000, is charged with working closely with the manager, but at the end of the day doesn’t have any more authority than any other councilor. “That has turned out to be more of a burden than a blessing,” said Suslovic, who supported the 2010 charter changes.
Suslovic, along with at least two other councilors, believes that a lack of clarity about the authority has contributed to the turnover at City Hall, most recently with the departure of Sheila Hill-Christian, who said Wednesday she will step down as acting city manager to take an assistant city manager’s job in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her departure will leave the city with no permanent manager and no assistant manager.
To attract and retain quality administrators, the city should reopen the City Charter and consider giving real power to the elected mayor or returning to the previous system, in which councilors appointed a mayor, Suslovic said.
“In hindsight, we ended up with the worst of both worlds,” he said.
SHAKY GOVERNING DYNAMICS
Mayor Michael Brennan, along with Councilor Justin Costa, said it’s premature to cast judgment on the new form of government.
“It think it has been clearly demonstrated that Portland has benefited from having a popularly elected mayor,” said Brennan, who declined to elaborate.
The doubts come after an exodus of City Hall staffers. In recent years, the city has replaced its city manager, corporation counsel, city clerk, police chief, fire chief, Health and Human Services director, shelter director, human resources director, communications director and finance director.
Councilor Jon Hinck blamed Brennan for not doing more to retain Hill-Christian, who is respected and admired by councilors, staff and residents.
In responding to Hinck’s criticism, Brennan said Wednesday that the charter makes it clear that the full council, not the mayor, oversees the manager.
That response, Hinck said Thursday, was “very telling” and points to the systemic problems.
“Clearly to me it has something to do with (Hill-Christian) finding greener pastures in the industrial Rust Belt state of Ohio,” he said.
Hill-Christian declined to comment on Portland’s current political structure.
“My decision to leave was based on a great opportunity in Cincinnati,” she said. “(But) any city of this size could benefit from taking a look back at the way things are working.”
Councilor Kevin Donoghue said in an email that the 2010 charter experiment holds promise, in terms of policy leadership, but the experience so far has made a better case for a council president, rather than a strong mayor.
“While it is clear that the new governing dynamic has not been a successful one, reasonable people can disagree about whether that has more to do with the charter than with how it has been used,” Donoghue said. “There is little doubt, however, that this departure represents a very regrettable and likely preventable loss for Portland.”
ROLES OF MAYOR, CITY MANAGER
Differing opinions among the mayor and councilors have emerged in the wake of a critical state audit, putting city staff in a difficult position.
The audit, released in February, revealed that the city was receiving state reimbursements for the operating costs of its homeless shelters, including for people who did not qualify based on financial need. Brennan, state legislators and social services groups responded by holding a news conference to defend the city’s actions, saying the city had a longstanding agreement with the state.
However, Hill-Christian suggested that the city comply with the audit findings.
Although she found support among the council’s subcommittees, the full council didn’t have a chance to formally express its opinion until Monday. Even then, councilors had to add a resolution to their agenda during the meeting to offer their support for her recommendation.
Although most councilors acknowledge the current problems, not everyone is on board with changing the charter.
Councilor David Marshall believes the system can work and provides continuity of leadership through a four-year term, rather than the one-year term that council-appointed mayors served.
“It depends on who plays the role of the mayor and city manager and if they mesh well,” Marshall said.
Costa said the current structure creates tensions, but can work. “It’s going way too far to say this can’t work,” he said.
LACK OF CLARITY ON POWERS FAULTED
Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant has worked for both council-appointed mayors and strong mayors. He observed that the transition in Portland seems to be difficult because the powers and responsibilities do not appear to be clearly delineated.
Portland’s system gives voters the impression that they have an elected mayor with the power to make things happen, as in Westbrook, but that is not the case.
“I think what the city ended up with was a compromise. Sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s bad,” Bryant said. “I think the expectation was different from what was enacted. Hopefully, that gets clarified a little bit.”
Councilor Nicholas Mavodones, who opposed the charter changes, said he would support taking another look at the charter to either enact a strong mayor or return to the old system. He prefers the latter, because it ensures the mayor is speaking for the council, rather than pursuing his own agenda without the support of the council.
“We’ve had nearly four years of this system and I don’t feel it’s the best system for Portland,” Mavodones said.
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